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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Mushroom Biryani ( Celebrating my 400th post )

My 400th post. So it had to be something celebratory. My sincere and heartfelt gratitude to all my regular and not so regular readers. Your comments and encouragement is much appreciated and help me keep going. And a big thanks to my husband for putting up with my experiments in the kitchen. Thanks everyone for being a part of this wonderful journey.

Preparation - Clean and wash the mushroom. Cut along the length into slices of medium thickness.

Soak the mushroom in a pan with water and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder for 1 hour. Drain off the water and pat dry with a paper towel.

Take the yogurt, GG paste, cumin powder, chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric half of the chopped mint and coriander leaves, garam masala and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add the mushrooms and coat them thoroughly with the marinade. This helps the mushroom absorb the spice flavors. Allow t rest for 1-2 hours.

Cut the onions into thin long pieces.

Cooking - Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok. Add half of the sliced onions and fry on low flame till they turn brown. You can add 1/2 tsp sugar to hasten the process. Remove the caramelized onions and keep aside.

Add 2 tsp oil to the same wok. Add the remaining onions and fry till light brown. Add the tomato puree and fry for another 2-3 mins.

Add the marinated mushrooms along with the marinade. Cook for 4-5 minutes till the excess water evaporates and masalas are well cooked. (It is ok if mushroom is still under-cooked, it gets done along with the rice.)

Add the washed basmati rice, mushrooms and 2 2/3 cup water (add another 1/3 cup if you want softer rice). Mix gently. Sprinkle ghee and salt over the contents. Add half of the caramelized onions. Close the lid and cook for 1 whistle.

Allow steam to escape before opening lid. Keep aside for 10-15 mins before serving. Just before serving gently mix the rice and mushrooms so that they are evenly distributed ( mushrooms tend to rise to the top while cooking ).

Serve hot with raita and papad.

Note - Add 1/2 cup capsicum to the marinade along with the mushrooms. Give a really nice twist/flavor to the mushroom biryani. ( Again it depends on whether you like capsicum ). Also if you are not really into mushroom, try a combination of baby corn and capsicum which is equally good.